pica + pixel

20 Tweetable Truths About Magazines

2009-11-12T06:18:00.001-05:00

This video was created by the magazine trade organization, Magazine Publishers of America, as an introduction to the Magazine Innovation Summit but the video has made its way to YouTube with Tweet-sized statements about the statistics of magazine readership and its advantages to other media.

Bonus? It's been lovingly set in Gotham all caps.

Its a nicely created flash video and a great reminder that people are still looking for tangible non-Tweet-sized information.

[via FontFeed]

Congratulations to Jake and his Cut & Paste Victory!

2009-11-11T23:14:00.003-05:00

It is a little late, but we want to give a big congratulations to our friend Jake who won the Cut & Paste Global Championships for Motion Graphics! Jake did a guest post for us back in March describing what it was like to win the New York City regional event and now he won the whole enchilada. Check out his winning entry below.

In The Garden of 1001101110 from Jake Guttormsson on Vimeo.

Design Sponge, the Swedish Version

2009-11-11T17:04:00.004-05:00

Emmas Designblogg is a contemporary home decor and lifestyle blog from Sweden. Its a different look at a well-worn topic. Yes, there's a little bit of nesting going on there but heck, Swiss Miss is doing it too.

2009-11-09T14:36:00.004-05:00

Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles from Brent Barson on Vimeo

Brilliant opening sequence for the 5th Annual Typophile Film Festival created by Brent Barson and design students and faculty from BYU.Created entirely using traditional filming techniques with the five senses being the theme for the film. Letters were cut from Plexiglass, wood, aluminum, foam, ham, potatoes, jell-o, squash, Kool-Aid, clay and incense cones. Watch the video. Four minutes, very well spent.

None of your business cards

2009-11-06T06:18:00.001-05:00

In the tradition of CarTalk's closing credits, Mauseth Design (with the help of Studio on Fire) created a series of "None of your Business" cards. Beautifully letterpress printed, these cards can be handed out to skeevy people you meet at cocktail parties, bars and various AIGA events. Only once they've sobered up a bit will they get that the joke is on them.

The Lettering of Harry Potter

2009-11-05T13:56:00.002-05:00

The Harry Potter films are chock-full of beautiful hand lettered calligraphy, from opening sequences to the closing credits. Bob Walker (worked on Sorcerer's Stone) and Julian Walker (worked on the first three films) are actually mentioned in the credits as "lettering artists." Cool!

[via DesignWorkLife]

Eye Candy: I Spy intro

2009-11-04T23:07:00.003-05:00

Tonight, my husband and I watched the Mark Twain Prize on PBS where they honored Bill Cosby. They showed the opening to I Spy which starred Mr. Cosby and I loved it and thought I would share it with you all.

Photoshop Lady: Good blog for photoshop effects

2009-11-02T23:13:00.003-05:00

Next time you get stuck on how to do some crazy type effect in Photoshop, check out the Photoshop Lady blog. The blog culls the internet for the best and non-cheesy photoshop effect tutorials. It gives you simple instructions and even gives you an idea of how long each effect should take.

The Art of the Well-Designed Form

2009-10-30T06:59:00.000-04:00

The German book Formulare Gestalten (Designing forms) is chock full of the art and craft of the well-designed form. Forms are the perfect blending of design and function and Formulare Gestalten provides details about how to create more usable, user-friendly forms with over 60 case studies. A new English edition of the book is available this month (October 2009).

Eye Candy: Andy Awesome

2009-10-29T06:42:00.000-04:00

Star Wars simplicity by Andy Awesome.

PS: If you like this art but haven't seen Fanboys yet, get thee to your Netflix queue!

[via Drawn]

Video: Creating Comics

2009-10-28T17:25:00.003-04:00

Cartoonist Doug Tennapel discusses digital vs. traditional media along with lots of other issues related to the art and craft of creating comic books.

[via Drawn]

Photographer: Pancho Tolchinsky

2009-10-27T23:09:00.003-04:00

Some lovely photography from Barcelona artist Pancho Tolchinsky.

Mrs Eaves finally finds her Mr Eaves

2009-10-26T23:18:00.002-04:00

Emgre just released two sans serif companion fonts for their popular Mrs Eaves. Please welcome Mr Eaves Sans and Mr Eaves Modern. Hooray! Both of the new fonts where created by Zuzana Licko who based the fonts on the proportions of Mrs Eaves, but took some liberties with the characteristics of the fonts. Licko didn't want to create "a typeface that looked like it simply had its serifs cut off". I think the results are quite fetching.

Duffy says: Stop going to work!

2009-10-26T17:12:00.002-04:00

A friendly reminder from Joe Duffy that the key to being creative depends wholeheartedly on our ability to think creatively. Sometimes getting there requires breaking the 9-to-5 daily grind in order to get happy, creative, focused and be more productive. Sometimes, "wasting time" makes us all more productive.

Read more of Joe Duffy's blog on Fast Company.

[Link via Fast Company, shout-out to @NeilPfeiffer]

Eye Candy: Logos by super_furry

2009-10-26T06:27:00.001-04:00

[1. Untitled, 2. swaptopus (aka, tako), 3. more 1800 logos, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Walk America logo, 8. Untitled, 9. summer's on (wal-mart) logo]

A whole set of great logos found on Flickr under the moniker, super_furry.

Pressman's pride

2009-10-23T08:20:00.000-04:00

I think the registration marks really make it.

[Via Font Feed]

The League of Moveable Type

2009-10-23T07:11:00.000-04:00

In an effort to make good typography available to everyone, The League of Moveable Type is calling upon typographers to contribute fonts to their movement. Their goal is to offer good quality faces that can be accessed for use on the web through @font-face.

Blackout, League Gothic and Junction are just a few of the free fonts offered through the League of Moveable Type.

Nickelodeon grows up

2009-10-22T15:07:00.001-04:00

Found on Brand New, Nickelodeon has revised their logo to reflect their new aesthetic sensibilities. Less slime, more style. Yeah!

LA Event: Hello Kitty Art Show at Three Apples Exhibition

2009-10-20T23:11:00.004-04:00

[Above: Gary Baseman. Below: Buff Monster]

Ana and I have a soft spot for Hello Kitty in our hearts since some of the first moments of our friendship were spent bonding over our mutual love of Hello Kitty. Imagine our glee when we found that the Three Apples Exhibition in LA is throwing a fantastic show where Sanario collaborates with 80 popular artist to celebrate 35 years of Hello Kitty. Everyone from Frank Kozik to Gary Baseman to Tara McPherson to Friends with You will be contributing. Makes me want to take a trip to LA to check it all out.

[Via Juxtapoz Magazine. Thanks to Thea for the tip.]

How you can help the Gastrotypographicalassemblage

2009-10-19T22:53:00.003-04:00

The Center for Design Study is restoring the famous Gastrotypographicalassemblage created by Lou Dorfsman for the CBS cafeteria and they would love your help. Watch the video above and if it moves you, please donate to The Center and help them bring this piece of design history back to life.

Eye Candy: A Journey Round My Skull

2009-10-16T23:10:00.000-04:00

Our good friend Chris Capuozzo pointed us toward a wonderful blog called A Journey Round My Head that is chocked-full of inspiring eye-candy. The blog overflows with interesting illustrations and amazing old book covers. Some of our favorite recent posts are Thirty Book Covers from Poland, Alexeieff's Queen of Spades and Dan Meth's Eastern European Stash.

Christoph Niemann talks about why deadlines are good

2009-10-15T23:02:00.003-04:00

The Behance 99% blog has a nice interview with illustrator Christoph Niemann were he talks about his process, why deadlines are good and how much he dislikes open-ended assignments.

Polaroid: Back from the DEAD!

2009-10-13T16:57:00.003-04:00

As a result of all the hullabaloo after the demise of Polaroid instant cameras and films last year, Polaroid has agreed to re-launch the legendary Polaroid One Step Camera and produce a limited edition of Polaroid branded Instant Films in 2010.

All praise analog technology!!

[via Polapremium. Thanks, Maura!]

Milton Glaser: Draws and Lectures Video

2009-10-13T16:05:00.001-04:00

MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.

BBC unveils new Dr. Who logo

2009-10-08T07:44:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I am a Dr. Who fan. I remember watching the intro the show as a child and being so freaked out by it that I couldn't watch it again until I was much older. But as a sixteen year old, I became an addict staying up to 4am watching old episodes. So I was happy earlier this week when the BBC unveiled the new Dr. Who logo and it didn't suck. The logo isn't mind-blowing, but type is simple and I think the initials forming an icon of the Tardis is kinda clever.

Also they compiled a montage of the 10 logos that branded the show during the past 46 years.